Hispanic Heritage Month

VA celebrates Hispanic Heritage month with the story of Vietnam Veteran Arnie Cardenas.

Growing up in Uvalde, Texas, Army Veteran Cardenas and his eight siblings loved listening to the sounds of accordion maestro Tony de la Rosa and the Tex-Mex music flowing across nearby border towns like Laredo.

As Cardenas grew older, his family got hooked on a new phenomenon sweeping the nation in the mid-1950s: Rock ‘n’ Roll. 

Stations in San Antonio, 80 miles away, crackled with hits like “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On,” “Tutti Frutti” and “All Shook Up.” Cardenas’ mother would capture rockers off the radio for her kids on tape recorders.  

Cardenas and his brothers Armando, Arnoldo and Arturo weren’t content on just listening. They wanted to play. When Arnie was 14 years old, an uncle bought him an old Stella acoustic guitar and taught him a few chords. He kept practicing and learned to play by ear. With Arnie singing and playing guitar, Arturo on drums, Arnoldo on saxophone and Armando playing the accordion, the foursome started the Cardenas Brothers Band.

“Am I really your girlfriend?”

With the promise of stable factory work, the four brothers moved north to Rockford, Illinois, in 1963. The Cardenas Brothers Band continued performing around the Midwest. Playing a gig in Ohio proved fateful for young Arnie, where he met future wife Neomi.

Neomi came to our show with a friend. “I went down off the stage, tapped the guy on the shoulder and said, ‘I’m sorry buddy, but may I dance with her? She is my girlfriend.’ She just looked at me. We started dancing and she asked, ‘Am I really your girlfriend?’ I said, ‘I would sure like you to be.’”

The couple ended up getting married, raising five children and sharing life’s ups and downs until Neomi died in 2014.

In 1964, Arnie and his brothers were drafted into the military. Arnie and Arnoldo, the saxophonist, deployed to Vietnam in 1965, where Arnie was an Army field medic. Arnie was just two months from the end of his tour when he got devastating news. His youngest brother had been killed in action.

Trio a bit more subdued

With Arnoldo in his thoughts, Arnie and Armando and Arturo reunited to form the Cardenas Trio after Arnie came home. A bit more subdued from their teenage years playing rock ‘n’ roll, the Cardenas Trio focused on boleros (slow waltzes and love songs) and cumbia (folk dance). He discovered his wife had a beautiful singing voice and Neomi became the band’s lead vocalist until her death.

Arnie goes to the VA Clinic in Rockford, Illinois, for yearly physicals, and occasional appointments at the William S. Middleton VA in Madison, Wisconsin. He shared his story with his VA health care team through a conversation with Lauren Koshere of the “My Life, My Story” project.

“Several years ago, they spotted a little cancer on my throat. They treated it with radiation for nine weeks and it disappeared. I had to go for follow-ups for the next five years and it never came back. I’m clean,” Arnie shared.

As proof, he belted out a few lines from “Tutti Frutti.” For a few moments, the air resounded with all the feeling of a young man singing along to the radio more than 60 years ago.